Brownie McGhee - Brownie's Blues (Bluesville Acoustic Sounds Series)

Brownie's Blues finds Brownie McGhee in relaxed, conversational form, and this Bluesville Acoustic Sounds Series reissue presents the record on 180-gram vinyl.

Recorded in 1960 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs and released in 1962 on Prestige's Bluesville imprint, the album caught McGhee at a time when the folk revival was bringing his music to new audiences. He had long since become a master of the Piedmont style, and he was joined here by his longtime partner Sonny Terry on harmonica, plus a second guitarist adding extra body to the sound.

What makes this record special is the blend. McGhee's roots in jump blues sit right alongside his more traditional folk-blues side, so the set swings as easily as it settles. "Jump, Little Children" kicks things off with a lively bounce, while "The Killin' Floor" heads somewhere deeper. His take on "Trouble In Mind" is warm and unhurried, and "Everyday I Have The Blues" carries the confidence of a man who has sung it a thousand times.

Terry's harmonica whoops and cries around the guitar lines, the sound of two players who knew each other's every move.

It is a quietly essential piece of acoustic blues, and a lovely place to start for anyone new to McGhee's catalogue.